Fundamentals of Piano Practice, 2nd Edition

[felia]

HAs anyone read this book before??please give some comment on this book.Thanks:)

Here is the link, if you want to browse a bit:

https://members.aol.com/chang8825/entirebook.htm
https://www.sinerj.org/~loyer/PianoBook/


Thanks.

Luv
Felia

[xvimbi]

This book and the material in it are being discussed in literally dozens, if not hundreds, of threads on this forum. CC Chang is a member, although he hasn't posted in a while. Many people consider this book "standard" repertoire by now. It is mentioned pretty much in one sentence with Sandor, Fink, Whiteside, Bernstein, etc. The main difference between CC Chang's book and the others is that it is geared towards the beginner, but contains a wealth of material for the very advanced pianist as well.

Read it carefully, digest the material, then read it again, and again... IMO, it's a stellar book that no beginning pianist should go without. And it's free!

[happyface94]

I found some parts to be very interesting read even for my level. I was very interested in the tuning your piano section but I quickly dropped it because I didn't understand it very well. I knew that tuners were "counting" beats, but yet I couldnt quickly find an explanation of what that meant.

I really adored the section on the analysis of certain pieces (like how certain pieces were composed on a few themes disguised). My friend once listened to a bach prelude/fugue and thought the ending was very amazing. I quickly looked at it and told him Bach used a very simple formula that has been used by virtually all composers. The simple : II6 I6-4 V VI, IV V I, of course it was disgused with notes in between but it was simple to see that it was nothing more than a formula.

Needless to say, my practice method is very close to what he state as the intuitive method and as completly wrong. This method brought me to where I am now but I do agree that it is wrong. I do sometimes do what he states as the "good method" and I can't tell if this is why I am able to play at this level.

[leahcim]

HAs anyone read this book before??please give some comment on this book.Thanks:)

 I have a mathematical theory for it, let's say there are L people and k is a constant [that means, if I can patronise you for a second, it doesn't change. If you were a scientist like me you'd know that, but even though I've just told you chances are you still aren't a scientist, unless you are] Let x be the number of keys on a piano [I could have put 88 here, but because I'm being rough here, I could easily be out by a factor of 10 or more and there could be as many as 880 keys - but that will make you learn even quicker!] and y be another constant that varies, then you see that Lk/x = y and I'm correct

It always reminds me of the Betty Edwards "drawing on the right side of the brain" - if you ignore whether the premise of the book is true or not [all the stuff about left/right brain activity etc] and instead just try the exercises to see if they help you learn to draw. If they do, whoo hoo, if they don't and you followed them look again.

Similary, there's a wealth of mumbo-jumbo in there that's not worth debating or imho reading, but if you can find stuff in there that's pragmatic and improves your playing then go for it.

I'd say you might find the same information presented in a better way - but at the same time sometimes the same thing written in n ways hits home [even by the same person]

The better ways that spring to mind are a teacher, this forum, the books that Xvimbi lists etc.

[bernhard]

Chang’s book is essential reading. And really, there is no other book quite like it out there. It does not really deal with the technical aspects of playing the piano (which is the substance of Sandor and Fink), but rather on how to practise. This is a subject rarely – if ever – touched upon in the literature (Sandor has a chapter in his book that gives some – very good – general ideas).

The only other two books I came across that come near the subject is Phillip Johnson’s  - “The practice revolution”, and Jeffrey Whitton - “The art of practising the piano“ both of which although excellent, cover very different ground from Chang’s.

Madeline Bruser’s “The art of practising” was a complete disappointment having more to do with the authors Tibetan Buddhist practices, than with piano practice proper (still an interesting read).

So, yes, Chang is the man!

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[diegosmom]

^^^^ Eagerly awaiting Bernhard's book as well  ^^^^

[leahcim]

^^^^ Eagerly awaiting Bernhard's book as well  ^^^^

One that will clarifies what it says if you ask it "What did you mean by...." and with a search function....like, err, well like what he's already written

A book aimed at teachers would be a better idea imho. The gamut too. Chapter 12 "Now you've got 40 pupils it's time to decide what you should have charged and which teaching method to use

e.g I'd prefer it if one of the 30 or so teachers that imaginatively advertise themselves with the descriptive words "Piano teacher" in the section of the telephone book entitled "Piano Teachers", err yeah, I figured that...c'mon use those 30 words or less - pretend you're running a #$%#$% business could indicate in some way that doesn't require 30 #$%#$ phone calls, 30 $%#$% lessons that _they_ had, at the least, read some / all of the fancy books, and watched the videos